Thank you to our Guest Writer Mollie Wilson for this wonderful article….

There comes a time in every young woman’s (or man’s) life when a holiday season comes around more frequently and assuredly than even Christmas.

When it comes around, you can smell it in the air and see it in the social media streets.

It can put you into an intense romantic and starry-eyed state or it can put you into a brief, panic inducing anxiety regarding the current state of your non-existent love life.

That’s right, I’m talking about the season that out does all other seasons: wedding season.

From the end of May to the beginning of college football season (because heaven help the bride who has her wedding day on ‘game-day’), if you’re between the ages of 24-32, your summer is practically spoken for.

You’ll maybe have one or two weddings that first summer, but towards the end of that summer, and for every wedding season until you hit 32, your fridge will not be your own.

Instead, it’ll be cluttered with magnetic save-the-dates and invites over flowing with either flowers or lace and ribbon (it’ always at least one or the other, sometimes both).

Loving faces will stare back at you as you merely try to pry the freezer open to get to your truly beloved, Ben and Jerry’s.

Personally, I’m about to be in my fifth wedding and in this prime-time of the wedding season I am ready.

I haven’t been ready in the past, mentally or physically and regretting it deeply.

Having been in 5 thus far in my short life, I have learned how to love being both a guessed and apart of the bridal party.

I have a process, you see, tried and true, to survive wedding season, each and every year.

This is my tried and tested guide to surviving the magic of wedding seasons.

Step 1: Prepare, Prepare, Prepare…

Majority of weddings are on a weekend, usually a Saturday, which means you’re going to have exactly one day to recover before you have to go back to being the shining star of your workplace, we all know you are.

Optimizing your recovery time come Sunday is paramount and preparing ahead of time is the way to do it.

Usually, when attending a wedding, if the wedding happens to be more than 30 minutes away, I’m probably going to get a hotel.

I think this is a good cutoff because most wedding hotels book for $80-120 and once you get to that 35-45 plus drive, either your Uber is going to be too expensive (predict your prices here, this is a pro-tip) because we don’t drink and drive in 2019 or if you don’t drink, you’re going to be tired and it’s really not safe to drive that far, even sober, when you’re tired and just danced your life away to Rhianna and Luke Coombs for two to five hours.

By looking up the price of an Uber or booking a hotel in advance, you won’t have to make a last-minute call and can even try to book with friends, cutting the room cost.

This is also generally the safer decision as well to keep your roads safe.

Step 2: Pack Even When You Don’t Need to Pack…

This step is paramount. It goes along with optimizing your recovery.

Even when the wedding your attending is within the 30-minute cut-off, ‘pack’ your needed recovery items.

This just means set them out, within easy reach.

This does two things: it makes sure you know you have the necessary ingredients in your home, so you don’t have to go out to CVS, and it allows you to have a plan.

Now, what exactly, is going to be most helpful when recovering from a Saturday accompanied by high emotions and maybe an open bar?

Here are my staples: ibuprofen, best taken Saturday night when you get back; CBD Oil , best taken the morning you get up, I usually use a coconut oil and put mine in a tea or coffee, and then will take some more when the Sunday scaries hit me later that evening, usually in tincture form; an ice pack, this is basic but overlooked, your feet probably are killing you and you will thank me come Saturday morning; brunch reservations, nothing will make you feel better after an evening of high emotions than a massive stack of French toast (that you didn’t make).

Step 3: Secure your Wedding Buddy…

Could this be your plus one? Yes of course.

However, if you’re not in a serious committed relationship, you might not get a plus one.

In this case, it really just depends on how big the wedding is and how close you are with the people attending.

The point isn’t who you chose, it’s that you chose someone.

You’re not hitting them up with a text or dm and asking them to be your wedding buddy either.

All you need to do is shoot them a text confirming the location and let the convo expand from there.

This is helpful because if you get lost, can’t find the registry link, or any number of things that could go wrong, you can reach out to said buddy.

This also gives you a leg up for once you get to the wedding, you already know someone and can easily segway into a fun evening catching-up and reestablishing a friendship.

Step 4: Find the Perfect Gift…

This is cash or experiences.

Nowadays, most people live together before they get marries and thus, they may already have that toaster you thought would be ‘just perfect’.

And if you get something off the registry, Aunt Mabel and their neighbor may have gotten them the exact same thing. It’s easier for the couple if you just give them cash.

If you wan to personalize it, get them an adventure they will be able to do together!

Step 5: Enjoy. Yourself. Every. Single. Time…

Look, whether you’re 24 and have starry eyes or you’re 32 and tired of having so many weddings each summer, you’re friends wanted you to share this special moment in their life with you and you want to share in that moment with them or you wouldn’t be going.

You can either mope about it or you can go, have a good time, congratulate your friends, and hope that someday they’ll do the same for you.

Then you can try Ben and Jerry’s new low calorie flavors, because those have saved my waistline more than a few times.

You just have to make the most of it, and if nothing else, at least you’ll learn exactly what you don’t want at your wedding, your future husband or wife will just have to put up with it because now you’re the wedding pro.